Like many others, I lost friends and classmates 9 years ago today. I was also something of a friend to the building, if such a thing is possible. I proposed to my first wife at Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of 1 World Trade Center, and, after the 1993 bombing, consulted-with a few other people from Indian Point- the city on emergency management, and met a few new friends that worked at the WTC, including Rick Rescorla.
I didn't cry for any of them for years. Around 2005, though, I picked up a New Yorker magazine at the gym, and read the article about Rick (whose incredible life should really be made into a movie) , and there I was on the elliptical, bawling like a baby. On this day, I think of all those lost, but mostly of Rick-an Englishman who became an American, and came to exemplify much of what that should mean. .....still makes me cry, dammit.
Today is a sad day for many of us. Many have died needlessly during and after this event. Yet life does go on. Today on my tour(s) I counted at least 25 beautiful new babies and it was an affirmation. These babies were from all across the planet and the nation and of all different creeds and backgrounds. They know nothing of the events 9 years ago today, they only know that they need someone to care and love them and make THEIR adult world a better place than the one they were born into.
Prayers, thoughts to the families of all affected on this day.